Two floating towers orbiting the earth. A remake of my CTFM-TechDream for UT, which itself was a four way re-thought remake of CTF-DiamondSword for UT! More routes and opportunities than Face and plays a lot faster.

Mesh trimmed BSP architecture rules. Anyone around from UT will see familiarities between this map and the UT map Diamond Sword (CTF-Diamond.unr). Spoondog, the author of this map, had done a 4 way version of Diamond Sword for multi team CTF UT named TechDream, this map is his UT2003 tribute. Examining the map, The two towers draw more on CTF-Face than DS, and the DS connecting catwalks get spiced up considerably. Inside, in place of the UT scrolling banners used in DS, mesh signs above the alcoves denote the teleport destinations. I was dissapointed to see that the phobos wing solar array not used in place of the center claw. It would then look more like DS than Face. The level does use primarily the author's own custom meshes, so the array may have been left out on purpose or for other reasons. Looking up, The sky box gets a custom earth texture. On the negative side, the red rotating moon Cedron sheet texture scale needs adjusting and an abberant shadow cuts across the image (I'll blame the BSP for this one).

Like Face, you can put a lot of players into this map. Default player count is set for 6 versus 6. The three tiers provide ample elbow room for large flag sorties. JumpPads give the verticle boost in key spots from below, in case you left your translocator at home, or have the flag. Returning for the cap, I found the lower route was shielded from eyes and weapon fire better than the ones above and had less traffic. For attacking, the upper route with its 8ball, sorry Rocket launcher, room is a must tactical stop. Because of the distances, instant hit weapons like the Shock Rifle, with the combo for knocking targets into orbit, will find favor over the rocket launcher. On the whole, item placement is well thought out, taking ques from the maps ancestors. Like DS, Multiple ways in and out of the flag room intensified the action. All I can say I'm glad for the HUD flag indicators when attempting to get my flag back. One of the less clean ways to return for a cap was to pile up some shield strength and make the jump from the enemy's sniper post, throwing off less healthy pursuers.

A few anti-portals were used on the towers and the inside rooms zoned with tags were the only optimization clues I found. On pathing, rudimentry AI script for pauses find good use. The sniper's nest recieved the proper volume coding and larger volumes put location tags to the upper platforms. In addition to the JumpPads, a lift mover takes players from the lowest tier to the flag room. What this map does need is jump spots to compliment the assault path actors. Bots did not make effective use of their translocators because of this omission. In a map of this magnitude Translocators are an important aspect of the gameplay (think Face). The multiple routes also make defense a dynamic act. Players must move to meet attackers, only the flag room can be camped effectively. But with the multiple entrances can prove to be difficult to defend as well. Bots, unfortunately are not upto the challenge this map offers, only a varied and relentless offense will win the day. Reminding me of the old addage: The best defense is a strong offense.

The construction of this map is typified by the mesh trimmed BSP method. A few decorations help the appearance, such as light fixtures and pipes. The modular use of meshes is taken to its full benifit, most get skinned with light mapping. BSP brushes accept the trim nicely, and the texture use adds continuity to the theme. A note on the size of this map: a problem with large outdoor areas is that the rendering engine not only has to cope with everthing in the players field of view, but has to consider every object within that zone for buffering (seen or not seen). On lower system specs this map can lag below 20 frames per second. Luckily the number of meshes and textures used don't require a 256 meg video card, just a decent clock speed and a matching front side bus. I guess what I like most about this map is the familiarity level I get playing it. With strong UT roots and an uncluttered 2003 flare, Tech Dreams is the perfect successor to two of UT's most popular maps.

One of the best maps I've played for UT2003 yet. Like a mixture of the UT maps Face and Diamond Sword (if I'm recalling the name of that map correctly).

My only complaint about the map is it seems a bit small. I would have preferred something a tad larger. The layout itself is brilliant, but it seems to me that center routes could have been made a bit longer, the bases a bit larger. In doing so, I think the bases may have felt more distinct as areas.

But overall, the map flows well, is interesting, and is smooth technically. I highly recommend it, along with most of the other maps in the CBP.

I have not played this particular map yet but I'm rating it to bring it to the attention of people as it is part of the CBP mappack. Thank you Beyond Unreal. Great maps, great mappers all in one easy to use Umod file.

Allow me to shout something at this point: FIND THE MAPPACK AND DOWNLOAD IT! NOW!

This is by far my favorite user created UT2k3 map, very very good job my friend, the only thing that would of been better is a Diamond Sword remake or diamond scythe even! but still this map is awesome, rock on man!